Shaker conveyer



Feb. 8, 1944. E. R. BERG-MANN SHAKER coNvEYER Filed Jan. 1 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Rg/m! Bauma/m, A P /q/'fvrnu/ Feb. 8, 1944. E, R, BERGMANN 2,341,074

SHAKER coNvEYER Filed'Jan. 1, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 2 www?. Arf-tornen( Patente-d Feb. 8, 1944 UNITED4 STATES that OFFICE SHAKER CONVEYER Application January 1, 1943, Serial No. 470,965

(Cl. ISS-220) 7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in shaker conveyers and more particularly relates to an improved yieldable supporting means for the rear end of an extensible trough of a shaker conveyor.

Heretofore extensible troughs of shaker conveyers, which are fed by the action of the conveyer into the material it is desired to load, have been supported so as to rest on the ground at their forward ends, and have been supported at their rear ends above the ground on a groundengaging shoe so said extensible trough may form a slidable support for a forward reciprocating trough of the conveyer trough line. Such a support for the rear end of the extensible trough o the conveyor has been satisfactory where the mine bottom is smooth, but diiculty has been encountered where the mine bottom is irregular or contains ridges or upwardly projecting rocks. When the shoe approaches a ridge or rock and it is attempted to extend the extensibletrough during reciprocation of the conveyor, the shoe will frequently strike the ridge or rock with such force as to bend the extensible trough and cause breakage of the supporting legs between the shoe and extensible trough.

The principal objects in. my present invention are to remedy this difficulty by providing a novel form oi yieldable ground-engaging shoe for supaway and certain other parts in substantially longitudinal section;

the conveyer.

porting the rear end of an extensible trough of a :isi

shaker conveyer about the ground, for movement along the ground, which is so arranged as to permit the entire shoe to yieldably move in a rearward direction with respect to the trough, upon the engagement of the shoe with an obstruction, :'f.

to prevent damage to the shoe and to permit it to more readily ride over obstructions on the ground.

Other objects of my invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure-1 is a view in side elevation of the forward end of a shaker conveyer trough line, showing the extensible trough supported at its rear end on a shoe constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail plan view showing the rear end of the extensible trough, with parts thereof and the yieldable supporting connection between the shoe and said trough broken away and shown in section;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view in side elevation of therear part of the extensible trough show ing certain parts of the supporting shoe broken Referring new in particular to the drawings, the inby end of a shaker conveyor trough line is generally shown in Figure l. Said end of said trough line includes a reciprocating trough I0 and an extensible trough H, extensibly or retractibly movable with respect thereto. Said trough line and reciprocating and extensible troughs are driven by suitable shaker conveyer drive mechanism of a well known form, to cause movement of material from the inby to the outby a ends thereof, which drive mechanism is not herev in shown or described since it is no part of my present invention.

The reciprocating trough lil has a U-shaped frame l2 mounted at its forward end, the sides of which project upwardly beyond the upper sides of said trough and have bearing blocks I3, i3 mounted thereon. Said bearing blocks are adapted to have engagement with opposite sides of bearing plates ifi, lli, extending along opposite sides of said extensible trough, to form a slidable guide and support for the forward end of said reciprocating trough on said extensible trough. A feeding mechanism indicated generally by reference character l5 extends in advance of and is pivotally connected to the lower side of said bracket. Said feeding mechanism is provided with friction grip blocks i6, it, adapted to engage opposite sides of said bearing plates, to cause movement of said extensible trough with said reciprocating trough. Said feeding mechanism is herein shown as being of a type somewhat similar to that illustrated in a prior application Serial No. 412,749, iled by William W. Sloane on Septernber 29, 1941, now Patent No. 2,318,808 granted May l1, 1943, and is no part of my present invention, so is not herein shown or described in detail.

The extensible trough Il has a shovel I'l extending forwardly frcm its forward end, the forward end of which forms a slidable support for the forward end of said extensible trough on the ground.

The rear end of the extensib-le trough II is supported above the ground on a ground-engaging shoe I8, having yieldable supporting connection therewith, which connection forms one of the novel features of my invention. Said connection includes a pair of parallel spaced supports I9, I9, secured to the rear ends of the bearing plates I4, I4 and depending therefrom. As herein shown, said supports each have an upper shouldered portion engaging the bottom and outside of each bearing plate and extending upwardly along the outer side thereof, above the top thereof.

A cap piece 22 engages the top side of the bearing plate I4 and has a pair of parallel spaced grooves 23 opening towards the ground. One of said grooves engages the upper end of one leg of the upwardly projecting shouldered y portion of said support and the other of said grooves engages a guide member 24, secured to and projecting upwardly from the inner side of said bearing plate I4 (see Figure 5). A plurality of cap screws 25, 25 extending through said cap piece and bearing plate areuthreaded within the support I9, to secure said support to said bearing plate.

A vertical roller 26 is mounted on the inner side of each support on a vertical shaft 21. Said rollers on said supports extend along opposite sides of the reciprocating trough I!) and are adapted to engage the outsides of the outer flanges of said reciprocating trough, to hold said extensible and reciprocating troughs in alignment with each other during operation of the conveyer.

Each support I9 has a depending bracket portion 29 spaced outwardly therefrom and extending parallel to the outer side thereof, to form a bifurcated support for a pivoted supporting leg 3Q, which extends therebetween and is pivotally connected thereto on a pivotal pin 3l. Said pivoted supporting leg is pivotally mounted on the shoe I8 at its lower end on a transverse shaft 33, which is mounted on said shoe in vertically spaced relation with respect thereto on upwardly projecting lugs 34, 3d. Said shaft projects laterally beyond said lugs, so that opposite ends of said shaft form mountings for the lower ends of said pivoted supporting legs. Nuts 35, are threaded on the ends of said shafts to retain said supporting legs in position thereon.

The yieldable connection between each support I9 and each pivoted supporting leg 30, to hold said supporting leg in an upright position and to permit yieldable movement of said leg and the shoe I8 about the axis of the pin 3|, includes a yieldable plunger 35. Said yieldable plunger is slidably mounted in a cylinder 3T and is pivotally connected, at its forward end, to said pivoted leg on the opposite side of the pivotal axis of said leg from the ground-engaging shoe I5, by means of a pivotal pin 33. The

cylinder 3l is trunnioned in the bracket formed by the bracket portion 29 and the outside of the support IS, on trunnion pins 4i), 4l! projecting laterally `from opposite sides of said cylinder (see Figure 5).

The plunger 36 extends through a collar 4I slidably mounted within said cylinder and abuts a shouldered portion of said plunger, so that said plunger may slidably move with respect to said collar in a forward direction and movement of said plunger towards the rear will correspondingly move said collar. Said plunger also extends through a collar 44 at the rear end of said cylinder. Said collar abuts a threaded retaining member 45 at its rear end, which retaining member is threaded within the rear end of said cylinder. A compresison spring 46 encircles said plunger and is interposed between the collars 4I and 44. A nut 4l is threaded on the rear end of said plunger and abuts the rear end of the collar 44, to retain said collar on said plunger and to cause movement of said collar in a forward direction, upon movement of the leg 3E] about the axis of the shaft 3l in a counterclockwise direction.

The compression springs 46, 45 are preloaded by the nuts 41, 4l and the threaded retaining members 45, 45, and are so arranged as to act when the pivoted legs 30, 38 are moving in either a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction, to permit movement of the shoe I8 about the axis of the shaft 33 in a rearward and upward direction, when said shoe engages an obstruction, and to return said pivoted legs to an upright position when the obstruction has been passed over.

The pivoted legs 3), 30 are each provided with an upwardly projecting portion 49 which is adapted to be engaged by the rear end of the upright sides of the U-bracket I2 on the forward end of the reciprocating trough II), to serve as a yieldable stop when said extensible trough reaches its limits of extension.

While I have herein shown and described one 'form in which my invention may be embodied, it will be understood that the construction thereof and the arrangement of the various parts may be altered without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Furthermore, I do not wish to be construed as limiting my invention to the specic embodiment illustrated, excepting as it may be limited in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a shaker conveyer and in combination with an extensible trough adapted to rest on the ground at its forward end, and means for supporting the rear end of said extensible trough for reciprocable movement along the ground including a ground-engaging shoe slidably movable along the ground with said extensible trough, a depending leg transversely pivoted to said shoe at its lower end and pivotally connected to said trough for movement with respect thereto about a transverse axis disposed beneath said trough, and a yieldable member connecting said leg with said trough to normally hold said leg in an upright position but permitting said leg and shoe to yield upon the engagement of said shoe with an obstruction on the ground.

2. In a shaker conveyer and in combination with an extensible trough adapted to rest on the ground at its forward end, and means for supporting the rear end of said extensible trough above the ground for reciprocable movement along the ground including a bracket depending from the rear end of said extensible trough, a pivoted leg transversely pivoted to said bracket intermediate its ends, a ground-engaging shoe transversely pivoted to the lower end of said leg and forming a slidable support therefor, and a yieldable member having connection with the upper portion of said leg, and arranged to normallyl hold said leg in an upright position, but

to permit said leg to yieldably move about its axisA of connection to said bracket, when said shoe engages an obstruction.

3. In a shaker conveyer and in combination with an extensible trough adapted to rest on the ground at its forward end, and means for supporting the rear end of said extensible trough above the ground for slidable movement therealong including a bracket depending from the rear end of said extensible trough, a pivoted leg transversely pivoted to said bracket, intermediate its ends, and depending therefrom, a groundengaging shoe transversely pivoted to the lower end of said leg and forming a support for said leg and the rear end of said extensible trough, and a yieldable plunger connected between said bracket and the upperend of said leg, for holding said leg in an upright position and permitting said leg to yieldably move about its axis of pivotal connection to said bracket, when said shoe engages an obstruction on the ground.

4. In a shaker conveyer and in combination with an extensible trough adapted to rest on the ground at its forward end, and means for reciprocably supporting the rear end of said extensible trough above the ground and enabling said trough g section to negotiate uneven mine bottoms including a bracket depending from the rear end of said extensible trough, a pivoted leg transversely pivoted to said bracket intermediate its ends, a

ground-engaging shoe transversely pivoted to the lower end of said leg and forming a support for said leg and the rear end of said extensible trough, a plunger connected between said arm and bracket, and a spring encircling said plunger and arranged to urge said plunger in directions to yieldably hold said leg in an upright position or to permit said leg to yieldably move about its axis of pivotal connection to said bracket in a rearward or forward direction when said shoe engages an obstruction on the ground.

5. A means for supporting the rear end of an extensible trough of a shaker conveyer for slidable movement along the ground including a shoe slidably movable along the ground, and yieldable transversely pivoted supporting connections from said shoe to opposite sides of said trough including a separate pivoted supporting leg pivotally connected to each side of said extensible trough, intermediate its ends, pivotal connections between the lower ends of said supporting legs and said shoe, and yieldable means for normally holding said supporting legs in an upright position, but permitting yieldable movement thereof upon engagement of said shoe with an obstruction and for returning said legs to an upright position when said shoe has passed by the obstruction.

6. A means for supporting the rear end of an extensible trough of a shaker conveyor for slidable movement along the ground including a shoe slidably movable along the ground, and yieldable transversely pivoted supporting connections from said shoe to opposite sides of said trough, including a separate pivoted supporting leg pivotally connected intermediate its ends to each side of said extensible trough, pivotal connections between the lower ends of said supporting legs and said shoe and a yieldable plunger pivotally connected to the upper end of each of said legs for holding said legs in an upright position, but permitting yieldable pivotal movement thereof in a forward or rearward direction upon engagement of said shoe with an obstruction.

7. In a shaker conveyer, an extensible trough communicating with a conveyer trough line and adapted to rest on the ground at its forward end, means for supporting the rear end of said extensible trough for reciprocable movement along the ground including a ground-engaging shoe slidably movable along the ground with said extensible trough, a supporting leg, a transverse pivotal connection between said leg and said trough, a transverse pivotal connection between said leg and said shoe Ifor supporting said trough on said shoe, and a spring connected between said leg and trough and adapted to normally hold said leg in an upright position, to reciprocably move with said trough, but to permit said leg to yield about its axis of connection to said trough and permit said shoe to move rearwardly with respect to said trough when said shoe engages an obstruction on the ground, and to return said leg to an upright position when said shoe has passed over said obstruction.

ERNST R. BERGMANN. 

